


Kate's Awakening

by Maharia_Avile



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: Angst, Canon divergence early season 2, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Sexual Content, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-05-04 10:33:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5330960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maharia_Avile/pseuds/Maharia_Avile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She can't look Seth in the eye anymore.<br/>Because she wants him. She wants him so bad, and he's no good. And neither is his brother. But she can't stay away from them.</p>
<p>It doesn't matter. Because she's no better than them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Why? Why had he done it? And why couldn't she stop thinking about it, about  _him?_

It had been dark, late. Back before he used the drugs, other than the most obvious one. He'd stumbled through the door to their shitty motel room and she'd pretended to be asleep, like always, even though she was always awake worrying for him.

But this time, he hadn't passed out on the couch, or on the other side of the bed. He'd sat down beside her, reeking of cheap alcohol. At first, she didn't know what the hell he was doing, but then she felt him stroke her arm. Gently, surpisingly so, considering how drunk he must have been.

After that, he lay down beside her, her back pressed into his stomach, his arm draped over her, caressing her. Her top had ridden up and she couldn't believe it when she felt his warm hand on the bare skin of her stomach, stroking it like she was something precious and not just the baggage he'd dragged with him to Mexico by accident.

Her first thought was that he thought that she was someone else, but he crushed that illusion by murmuring her name right before he started kissing her neck.

The worst part of all was that she liked it. She more than liked it, actually, considering how she shivered all over at the same time as she felt like her skin was on fire.

Seth was sliding his lips over the skin of her neck while inching his hand further and further down her stomach. She didn't know what the heck to do. She couldn't let Seth Gecko in her pants... could she? But it felt so damn good... She couldn't help a small moan escaping her as he pressed himself against her ass and she felt the hard length of him against her.

But that moan was both her salvation and her curse, because Seth stopped moving when he heard it. She held her breath for several moments, until she heard his soft, even breathing in her ear. He'd fallen asleep.

She didn't know if she was disappointed or relieved.

She hadn't known then, but she knew now. Definitely disappointed, since he hadn't so much as looked at her like that since then.

And God forgive her, she couldn't stop thinking about it. About what his hands had felt like, about how much she wanted him to touch her more – everywhere.

She watched him when he sat at the table, cleaning his gun, his ridiculously ripped muscles moving under his skin as he worked. She pretended to read her bible when she was really admiring the way his tattoo swirled across his arm, more than visible now when he was wearing his wifebeater.

If he looked up and caught her watching, he probably thought that she was staring at him with animosity. They didn't exactly get along.

God, if he only knew the sin that was moving through her head, he'd probably choke on his beer.

She lay awake at night, imagining how he would push her against the wall, kiss her, play with her tongue, put his hands all over her soft body, burning just for him. She wanted,  _God_ she wanted him.

She wanted Seth Gecko to fuck her, to moan in her ear, to claim her.

She didn't know that she already loved him, because she'd yelled at him so many times how much she hated him. And he always spewed something equally as terrible back at her.

She just knew that she wanted him and there would be no stopping this ravenous feeling inside of her until she got what she wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know where I'm going with this, just needed it out of my system. Tell me if you like, maybe I'll continue. And ooohhh I'm a sucker for Richie/Kate/Seth so maaaybe it'll turn into that, or I'll write that as a stand-alone.


	2. Chapter 2

It only happened one more time. She'd been sweating and toiling all day, getting her hands on various things off some stupid list Seth had given her of 'very important shit' they apparently needed for whatever reason. The last item on the list she'd hustled from a slimy, fat idiot who couldn't keep his eyes, or his hands, to himself. She'd had to put on some red lipstick and the tiniest top she owned to distract him enough to snatch it from him. She didn't know if Seth would be proud or outraged if he knew what she'd done, but he could just stuff it.

She came back to the motel room muttering, wiping sweat from her brow before she threw her bag down on the floor.

"Happy?" she asked, her voice dripping with venom. "Sheesh, if you knew what I had to do to get this..." she muttered. When he didn't respond, she looked up and was surprised to see the way he stared at her. He was sitting on the bed, wearing nothing but his pants.

He was staring at her lips, and then his eyes slid down to her exposed cleavage and stomach. She shivered, despite the heat. How was it possible that he could make her squirm like this just from looking at her?

He seemed to break out of his trance when he spotted something on her arm. She cursed to herself when she remembered how the fat bastard from before had gripped her so hard there that it probably left some bruising, and she quickly tried to hide it with her hand. But Seth was no fool.

He got up and walked over to her and took hold of her hand and removed it from her arm. She tried to fight him but it was pointless, he was strong as a bull.

"Kate," he said slowly. "What the hell is this?"

"If you have to know, it's just a small prize I had to pay to get the last of the shit from your list," she answered, eager to hurt him as always.

"You should have fucking told me. I would have taken care of it."

"No need." She stuck her chin up defiantly. "I already took care of it, didn't need your help."

He looked her straight in the eyes. "Goddamnit Kate, stop doing this to me," he growled.

She didn't know if he meant her getting hurt or something else entirely. She was acutely aware of how he still held her arm in his hand. It was like getting burned to the touch, but she never wanted it to stop. She parted her lips slightly, unconsciously, and his eyes flickered down to them and she stared, mesmerized, as his tongue darted out quickly to wet his bottom lip. She wanted to taste him, to put her tongue on that warm, wet lip and feel his tongue slide out again and touch hers.

His breath hitched as he hovered over her, his hand stroking her arm now, just as it had that night when he'd first touched her like this. She dared to put her hand on his chest and couldn't stop herself from whimpering when she felt the taut muscles underneath her fingertips as she slowly dragged them over his skin. He didn't say anything, just started breathing heavier and heavier, clearly reacting to her sounds and her touch, and she could see how his eyes glazed over and became hazy with lust. She swayed closer to him and tilted her head slightly upwards, so close to his lips now she could almost taste them.

They both stiffened when they heard someone flush the toilet in the bathroom and Seth's jaw tightened and he closed his eyes when the door opened. A woman stepped out, some tramp with barely any clothes on, who looked very surprised to see her.

Kate wanted to cry. But she didn't.

"Really, Seth? You let me do all the work while you're in here with a whore?" she said instead, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Yeah, so what? I've done my part and it was your turn to get off your skinny little ass and do something for a change."

She slapped him as hard as she could. Seth's head flew to the side, but he didn't say anything, he just stared at the wall.

The other woman, clearly uncomfortable with being there, picked up the her bag, which Kate hadn't even noticed before, and made for the door.

"No, by all means, stay! It's clear who's company he prefers, anyway," Kate said, unable to keep her voice from shaking now. She grabbed her jacket from the chair and bolted for the door, refusing to let Seth see her cry over him.

"Kate, where are you going? It's almost the middle of the night..."

"Fuck you, Seth," she said and slammed the door behind her.

That had been the last time, she was going to make sure of it. She would leave him, leave Mexico. He could fend for himself and she could... She didn't know what she would do, but anything would be better than having him screwing her up like this.

She snuck back into the room later that night, but her stealth was unnecessary. Seth wasn't there. She gathered her things and stuffed them in her bag and turned to leave. She yelped in surprise as she saw a tall, dark figure standing just inside the door. The light coming from the bathroom glinted in the rim of his glasses.

"Richie?" she whispered, not believing her eyes.

"Hi Katey," he said, and she could hear the smirk in his voice.

* * *

He had offered no explanation to where he'd been, what he'd been up to. Said he didn't want to talk about it, and Kate was too tired and too overwhelmed to push him. They sat down on the bed and Richie asked some questions about his brother that she answered reluctantly. She was sure that he could hear that something had happened between them, considering the fact that she couldn't even say Seth's name without making a face.

But she  _was_ happy for Seth that Richie had come back. He wasn't the same without his brother.

"Seth is going to be glad that you're back. Not that he'd ever show it. Wouldn't be surprised if he tried to hit you first thing," she said.

Richie snorted. "He can try. But he's not the only reason I came back."

"Oh?"

He snickered. "Yeah, Kate. Oh."

He touched her cheek then, and stopped smiling.

God, she'd forgotten how intense he could be. The way he was staring into her eyes now... It was why she had kissed him back in the Twister, like she had no control over herself.

He dropped his hand when the door opened.

"Ah. The less good-looking brother returns," Richie stated when Seth walked in.

 _Boy, here we go,_  Kate thought. And sure enough, the next hour consisted of fighting and yelling and enough cursing to make anyone blush, before she got sick of it and roared at them to stop.

They let go of each other and looked at her, surprised. Richie smiled when she looked back at him. Seth couldn't even meet her eyes.

She eventually fell asleep on the bed. Her plans for leaving had been spoiled now that Richie had shown up anyway. Even if she'd still wanted to leave, she had a feeling he wouldn't have let her, but she was sure Seth would be happy to get rid of her.

She drifted in and out of her slumber but woke up when she heard her name being whispered.

"Stop looking at her like that, fuckhead," Seth snarled.

Richie just snorted. "Like what, like how you look at her?" he whispered back to his brother.

Kate felt heat rise in her cheeks. They were arguing, about her. This was surreal.

"None of your goddamn business how I look at her."

"Oh?" Richie challenged. "I recall you scolding me with your usual condescension when she kissed me at the Twister. And now you make puppy eyes at her, here, where you whisked her away for some sick, Mexican honeymoon."

"It's not like that, asshole. And please, she didn't kiss you out of her own free will. She did it because she wanted you to let her go."

"That's definitely jealousy talking brother, 'cause I'm sure that you can hear how you sounded just now. Like a fucking hypocrite, that's how."

"You fucking -" Seth started, his voice pretty much a shouted whisper.

"Shut up, Seth," Richie said. "You'll wake her up. Go out and blow off some steam, I'll stay here and watch her."

Seth snorted. "Yeah, sure, I'll just let your creepy ass stay here with the little princess while I go look the other way."

Kate could almost hear Richie roll his eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, brother. But fine. Sit here and stare until she wakes up then, and we'll hear what she has to say when she does. I bet she doesn't have so much to say to you, though, considering how I caught her packing up all her stuff when I got here."

"She what?" Seth whispered.

"Yeah. Now, whatever could you have done to upset our little Katey like that?" Richie mocked.

"Shut up,  _Richard._ And she's not  _our_  anything, or yours for that matter."

"Believe what you want, brother. I could sense her pulse shoot through the roof when she saw me, when she let me caress her sweet, soft little cheek."

"Yeah, I bet it did. Out of fear."

"Fear, Seth? I could sense all her blood rush to between her legs. Do women's fear gather there, too, nowadays?"

Kate couldn't even pretend to sleep anymore when Seth threw himself over Richie and the table they landed on broke underneath them.

And she couldn't pretend that she wasn't beyond shocked about what she'd just heard. 

She was shaken out of her reverie when a piece of a broken bottle came flying her way and cut her across the cheek. Her gasp of pain finally caught the brothers' attention.


	3. Chapter 3

Kate clutched her hand to the bleeding cut on her cheek. Seth, who was the one who had accidentally thrown the bottle her way, stared at her before he shook his head and mumbled that he needed to get the fuck out of there.

She stood there looking after him for a few seconds before she ran out to follow him. She didn't make it a foot outside the door before Richie stopped her and pushed her against the wall outside the door.

"Let him cool off, Kate. I'm sure he's very sorry for hitting you."

"Sure he is," she snorted.

"Lemme look at that," Richard said and removed her hand from the cut.

"Want a taste?" she said, her voice full of sarcasm.

"You offering?"

She wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, but the words stuck in her throat when she looked him in the eyes. He was staring at her, and it was as intense as always. She needed to change the subject, quickly.

"Why do you even wear those things?" she asked and nodded toward his glasses. "Doesn't perfect eye sight come with the culebra-kit?"

He kept staring at her, his face impassive as he opened his mouth to speak. "You said once that you liked how they looked on me."

"Jesus," she mumbled. He must be fucking with her. Like he would keep wearing them just because of something she said.

"Jesus isn't here, Kate. It's just you," he shifted and pressed her harder against the wall, "and me."

She forgot how to breathe when she felt the tips of his fingers graze her thigh and move light as a feather up toward the hem of her cut off denim shorts. He never once looked away from her face, keeping his darkening eyes fixed on hers. She could only whimper when he pressed his fingers over the denim between her legs, moving far too deliciously.

She was so wet it was embarrassing, and she tried to look away but he immediately grabbed her chin and angled her face back to his.

"I wanna look at you, Kate," he said, his grumbling voice sending all kinds of shivers down her spine. He kept pressing his fingers against her and  _god_ she wanted to feel him. Without thinking about it, she let her hand fall down and she pressed the palm of it against his rock hard erection. He moaned appreciatively and she thought that hell itself must be eating her up right now because her blood was on fire.

She  _wanted,_ wanted him to do more – anything, she would do anything if he just kept touching her like that.

"Kiss me, Richie,  _please,_ I want to feel you..." she whispered, almost incapable of forming the words as his touch kept sending shockwaves of pleasure through her.

He moved his face closer to hers, hovering so close to her lips that she could feel his breath on them.

He was really going to kiss her.

He brushed her lips with his own, but then he turned his head and stuck his tongue out and lapped slowly, thoroughly over her bleeding cut, licking up the blood as he went over it. And if this damned her to hell, she couldn't care less because it was the hottest thing she'd ever experienced. She didn't even care that Richie's eyes looked like a demon's right then.

As if he sensed her reaction, his controlled manner started to crack slightly. He unbuttoned his pants so fast she barely noticed it, and freed his cock with one of his hands while still pushing her against the wall with the other. She didn't wait for him to take her shorts off, she did it herself, not wanting there to be any confusion about what she wanted. She  _needed_  to feel him inside her.

"Christ, Kate," Richard murmured when her shorts were lying on the ground underneath her feet. She still had her panties on but Richie just shoved them aside, making her gasp as they stretched against her flesh. He held her up, letting her wrap her legs around him and then he eased himself into her, bit by bit.

"Fuck, Jesus, so tight, Katey..." he breathed, his forehead pressing into hers.

"You're too big," she whispered, but Richard kept pushing, and she was so wet that she was dripping. He gave one more thrust and then he was inside her, completely. He groaned as she clenched around him.

"That's it baby, work my cock," he hissed and picked up the pace, seemingly desperate to hit her core with each thrust.

She mewled and whimpered and whispered his name more religiously than she had ever uttered another prayer in her life. She didn't care about how the rough stone of the wall tore at her back, only half covered by the top she was still wearing.

"Fuck, baby, I'm gonna cum..." he groaned and after a few, hard jerks he pulled out and came with a guttoral moan, making a mess on her stomach and the bottom of her top, which had ridden up above her belly button. She was in a complete daze, almost sorry that it was over but exhausted at the same time. Richard still held her up, his head resting on her shoulder while he tried to catch his breath.

Kate jerked up when she heard footsteps and it felt like someone had hit her when Seth came into view. He stopped dead when he spotted her, with her legs still wrapped around his brother. It was too dark to see his eyes properly, but she didn't miss the flicker of hurt that flashed over his face before it became as hard as stone and he walked into the room, passing mere inches from them before slamming the door shut behind him.

After that, Seth sent himself straight into junkie hell.


	4. Chapter 4

Had it all been just a dream? Sometimes she thought so. There was no logical explanation for why Richie had showed up all of a sudden,  _fucked_ her and then left.

Kate felt so stupid, so naive. She was probably just another thing for Richie to cross off from the list of things he wanted to take from his brother.

Seth didn't even comment his brother's absence, not once. And she didn't dare to bring it up, not even to hurt Seth. But oh, she wanted to hurt him. They were stuck in this shithole and instead of stepping up and being the man he needed to be, he was too smacked up half of the time to ever come up with more than some half-assed excuse for a plan to rob this place or that. All small fish and no big game.

She wanted to hurt him. But she knew that deep down, it was just because she was desperate for a reaction out of him, anything other than the coldness he regarded her with ever since he saw her with Richie.

What made her really pissed was that she actually felt guilty about it, and she kept wondering if she had been the one to push him over the edge, or if not having Richie by his side was the real reason.

Sometimes though, Seth's old self peeked out, as if he'd forgotten that she'd hurt him. A joke that she laughed at and then a smile from him. Or how his eyes shone with pride when she learned some new trick that he taught her.

Before he remembered, and then his face was like stone again.

She was starting to feel desperately hopeless when one day, the phone in their room rang. Seth was out, doing God knows what, and she was hesitant to pick ut up but did so anyway.

She was surprised to hear Richard's voice on the other end. He didn't even acknowledge her question when she asked him how he knew where they were, since they'd switched motels several times since his visit. What he did ask about was Seth. When she told Richard how he'd turned his brother into a pathetic junkie by not being there for him, he was silent for a few heartbeats.

Then all he said was: "You have to be there for him, then," before he hung up.

Kate slammed the phone down. How fucking dare he? She  _was_ here for Seth, and she did the best she could. How the hell was she supposed to know what to do with a junkie, how to get him off it?

She didn't.

And she was furious with herself for letting Richie get to her. She wasn't supposed to let his voice transfix her, listening to every word, every syllable he uttered like it was water poured down her dry, thirsty throat. She had closed her eyes while he'd spoken and seen how his tongue licked at her skin, breathed fire through her veins. She had fought it with everything in her, but that bastard tore down her defenses without even trying.

She didn't know how long she sat like that; scolding herself, before Seth came through the door after hours of being away.

She didn't tell him that his brother had called. She looked at him from the second he entered, how his eyes were soft when they first landed on her and then how his face turned into a sneer.

He goddamn  _sneered_  at her.

'Take care of him, Kate.'

'Be there for him, Kate.'

'Let me fuck you and leave you with my smackhead brother, Kate.'

"Fuck you, Richard," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Seth said while he threw his jacket over the chair and his keys on the table.

"Nothing." Kate stood up. "I'm going out."

" _Now?_ It's two o'clock in the morning."

"So? I wanna have some fun, go out dancing or something," she said and walked over to the mirror to fluff her hair.

"Yeah, I bet that's what you want," he said, his voice dripping with his usual smart-ass sarcasm.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked and turned around and stared at him, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Since when are you into dancing, princess? I bet you're just hankering for some  _boy,_ " he spat the word with contempt," who wants to stick it to you. Well, you go ahead and do that. But don't come crying to me when it starts itching down there."

Oh, he did  _not_ just say that. "What the actual fuck, Seth? Unlike you, I don't go fucking every member of the opposite sex with two legs!"

"You were quick enough to let Richard into your pants," he stated, crossing his own arms over his chest, mimicking Kate's stance.

"I  _like_ Richie," she said, a little shocked that he had brought his brother up at all.

"You like Richie?"

"Yeah, I do! I know he wouldn't do anything to hurt me."

"No? So you're completely unfazed by the fact that he fucked you outside a dirty motel and then left you? If that's your idea of romantic, you're worse than me."

"Yeah, I probably am worse than you! I must be, considering what a complete and utter asshole you are. I don't know why the hell I'm still here, I would be better off without you. But I'm a better person than you, Seth. I watch you waste yourself in that shit you stick up your arm, the girls that you've dragged here, forcing me to leave if I don't want to see what's going on. But I'm still here, working with you, trying so damn hard to get us both out of here. It's  _not_ my idea of romantic, but I can't fucking leave you, since I'm a complete idiot and I love you too damn much for my own good."

 _Shit. Shit, shit shit,_ she thought, her blood pounding in her ears after her rant was done, her cheeks going beet red after realizing what she'd just said.

Seth stared at her like she was a little, green alien from outer space.

"You  _what_?" he said, his voice oddly strangled.

"Forget it, Seth. You can go to hell."

She grabbed her bag and fled, slamming the door behind her.

_Oh my god, oh my god, what the hell did I just say to him?_

She kept asking herself that as she walked toward the club downtown. She needed to get plastered, because she doubted that Seth would still be there after what she'd said. Probably halfway back to the States already.

Two hours and several shots later, she was hopeful that she was on her way to forgetting how to even spell 'Gecko'. She was in the middle of the sweating, pulsating dancefloor, surrounded by men of all ages, staring at her with various degrees of hunger in their eyes. She wore her jeans and a white tank top, nothing special, but she'd slapped on some of the red lipstick she had left just before entering the club, and she supposed that she was pretty – and young – enough.

Besides, everyone had kept their hands to themselves so far. When the song that was blasting through the speakers ended, she eased her way over to the bar to get another drink. She politely declined the half-dozen offers she got to be given that drink for free, and she watched the bartender carefully while he prepared it for her, not wanting to miss if anyone tried to slip something in it. A tall and exotic-looking woman came up to the bar to order and smiled when she spotted Kate. Kate, who felt like an ugly duckling compared to who looked at her now.

"Girl, you're lucky," the woman said and smiled even wider.

"Uhm, excuse me?"

"The guy who's been staring at you for the last hour, he's the hottest guy in here by far."

"You must be mistaken," Kate said, sure that nobody except the pervs closest to her on the dancefloor would have seen her.

"I don't think so, little one. When I say stare, I mean  _stare **.**_ Do you know how many girls have tried to get his attention? He's brushed aside every one of them, never once taking his eyes off you."

Kate was just about to ask the woman to point out who the man was when she turned around, promises of a free drink making her lose interest in Kate just as soon as she'd found it.

Kate sighed, sure again that the woman had been messing with her. The bartender handed her her drink and busied himself with the next order. Kate walked off to the side of the dancefloor and raised the glass to take a sip when someone bumped into her, making her spill her drink all over her top.

She gasped as the ice and the liquid soaked her and she looked up to see a guy, maybe in his late thirties, standing over her. He had a look in his eye that Kate didn't trust one bit.

"Sorry, beautiful. I mean, I was, before I saw the view," he said and stared at her chest. Of course. Her white top was now quite see-through, her black bra showing through the wet fabric. The man came closer and leaned into her. She tried backing away but the wall behind her put a stop to her retreat and he put both his hands against the wall on either side of her head. Suddenly, his hand was squeezing her hip and he ran his fingers across her lips.

Kate wanted to bite them off but didn't have time to do anything before someone ripped the guy off of her. Her unwanted suitor staggered backwards before he was grabbed by the collar. Kate's eyes followed the hand that was holding him, the black swirls that wound around the forearm and disappeared underneath the black shirt that was pulled back at the elbow. Seth's elbow.

_Seth._

"What the fuck, man? I saw her first!"

Seth snarled at the man. "She's  _mine._ " Kate's pulse went up by a thousand. "So you get your dirty, little hands as far away from her as possible and don't ever even  _think_ about her again, or I'll break your fucking neck, you understand me?"

Something in Seth's face must have told the man he meant business.

"Sorry brother, didn't know she was already taken," he murmured.

"I'm not your fucking brother. Now get the hell out of here before I stop being so nice." Seth shoved him away and the man quickly disappeared.

The few people who had witnessed the commotion lost interest as soon as it was evident that no fight was going to break out, and they turned around and went back to what they were doing. Leaving Seth glaring after the man, and Kate staring at him, her heart hammering so loudly in her chest that she could barely hear the music.

"Seth? Why are you here?"

He turned around and looked at her. "What you said... before. Did you mean it?" He looked dead serious, not a hint of mockery or amusement in his face.

"I..." She didn't know if it was the alcohol, or if she was just tired of lying to herself. "Yes."

He shook his head, more to himself than to her, probably. "That's no good.  _I'm_ no good." He drifted closer to her, despite his words.

She didn't respond, because she didn't know what to say. She just bit her lip, chewed on it nervously. His eyes immediately flickered down to her mouth. "Fuck," he murmured and then he kissed her. His lips slid over her lipstick like butter and he searched for a way into her mouth, which she allowed him without a second's hesitation. He tasted like whisky and sweets, and it was the best taste she'd ever known. His kiss became more urgent, frantic as their tongues licked and teased each other. He let one of his hands stroke her all the way from her hip, his touch excruciatingly delicious, teasing, up to the side of her breast. She whimpered and he kissed his way down her jaw while his thumb flicked over the top of her breast, and he almost lost it when she moaned softly into his ear. He pressed himself against her and heat pooled between her legs when she felt how hard he was for her, the friction of feeling his erection pressing against her making her dripping wet. As if he could read her mind, one of his hands slipped into the lining of her jeans and he dragged one of his fingers across her slit, groaning when it became coated in her wetness.

"Holy Christ, baby," he whispered and she felt so ridiculously empowered by his desire for her. She pulled his hand out of her jeans and with blood hot and cheeks warm, she put his finger into her mouth and slowly licked it clean.

Seth's eyes went wide and he assaulted her mouth with his own again, grabbing a fistful of her hair to angle her up to him better, letting his tongue slip deeper into her mouth. His hand grabbed her ass and he pulled her even tighter against him. When he started to bite and lick the skin on her neck, she knew with absolute certainty that she would die if she didn't get to feel him inside her soon.

"Seth..." she moaned. " _God_ , Seth, get me out of here, now."

"Anything you say, babygirl," he breathed and grabbed her hand and she swore she'd never seen someone navigate through a crowd so quickly before.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shortness of this one... I have so little time to write but I wanted to get at least something out now! I'll write the next one as soon as possible. Hope you enjoy.

They burst out of the club and Seth pulled Kate behind him, his fingers tight around hers as he practically flew across the street toward their motel. Kate's head was spinning, and not just from drinking. She wanted to laugh, jump up and down, spin around in circles with Seth. He'd kissed her, touched her, he  _wanted_ her. His hand was so warm around hers, and despite the air being so hot already, she didn't want to feel anything but his heat added to it. She giggled as he almost stumbled over the sidewalk in his hurry to get them back to their room, and he looked back at her as if the sound snapped him out of his trance. He took one look and he  _growled_ , and she didn't even have time to breathe before he had her pushed up against the wall, claiming her mouth with his hunger. Her heart rate exploded as his tongue snaked in between her lips and she met it with her own. He towered over her, covered her whole body and more with his and she threw her arms around his neck to pull him even closer.

"You keep doing that, Princess," he murmured between kisses, "I abso-fucking-lutely can't guarantee you that I'll make it all the way back to that shitty place we call home before..."

He let out a pained noise from the back of his throat when she pressed her hand against his crotch and licked his neck. She smiled quietly against him when he stopped talking.

"When did you turn into such a little temptress? I guess there's only one proper way to do this."

She squealed when he grabbed her and hauled her up over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing and started to walk in a swift pace.

"Seth! What the hell?" But she couldn't keep herself from laughing as she bobbed up and down from his walk, and her heart fluttered when she heard him snicker. He was happy, she'd made him happy, finally. This was how it was supposed to be.

Everything was perfect, until they got back to the motel. He put her down, gently, and tilted her head up with his fingertips. He stared at her, his eyes filled with emotions she'd never seen in him before. He kissed her then, softly, different from before, and wound his fingers through her hair. She backed up against the wall beside the door, so she could use the solid surface behind her to press him as close to her as possible. But as soon as she felt the wall against her back, Seth opened his eyes and broke the kiss.

"Kate... I can't do this."

It was like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over her head.

"Why?" Her voice sounded small, pathetic. "Is it... it it because of Richie?"

He shook his head, staring off to the side, unable to meet her eyes.

"You deserve more, Princess. Christ, just look at this place."

She heard a crying baby in the distance, another couple's moaning and creaking bed from one of the nearby rooms. One of the windows across the yard was broken, and the pool was empty, nothing but a grey, sluggish matter on the bottom.

But she didn't care about any of that. She had, before. Before she'd known that he wanted her. Why did he want to ruin this now?

"Come on, Seth. Since when do you care where you bang your girls?" She hadn't meant to sound so judgemental, or sarcastic, but somehow she'd managed both.

"You think you don't mean more to me than that? You think I, what, just felt a little horny tonight, wanted a little taste of the pretty,  _little_  girl with the most severe case of Stockholm syndrome I've ever fucking seen?"

He sounded so angry, so mean. She tried to keep it together, knowing he was only trying to push her away because he thought she was too goddamn pure for him or some other crap like that.

"Jesus, how could I be so stupid? Believing that you actually  _loved_ me, when you're just too young to know any better. It's because you don't have anyone else, Kate, don't you see? I'm such a fucking idiot."

"Yeah, you are. You're an idiot, Seth, for not seeing what's right in front of you, for never letting yourself be happy for more than five minutes before you screw it all up. I'm not here because I have to be. If that was true, I would have left the night Richie returned. But I didn't. And not only because of him. I meant what I said before." Go big or go home. "I love you, Seth."

"No, you don't."

She slapped him. Not hard, but hard enough. "Don't you fucking tell me what I feel or not, Seth," she hissed at him. "I love you and that's that, it's not going to change."

She could see how his eyes turned black with instinctive anger over being hit, but they softned as soon as he looked her in the eyes.

She lifted her hand to his cheek again, but this time to caress it. "Don't you see? I couldn't care less about where we live right now. I know it's going to get better. I believe in you, in us. I just want to be close to you."

She could see his resolve disintergrating and he pulled her against him, putting his strong arms around her while she rested her head on his shoulder. "I don't know what the hell I ever did to deserve you, sweetheart," he murmured and kissed the top of her head.

She was just about to suggest that they go inside when she felt strong hands grab hold of her from behind and rip her away from Seth. Panic seized her when she saw that there were several attackers, and she couldn't move an inch from their grip as they dragged her away, further and further from Seth – Seth, who couldn't do a thing to help her since he was being held down by two of the largest men Kate had ever seen. She didn't know if she was more afraid for him of for herself.

"Let me go! Seth!  _Seth!_ " she screamed, desperate as her unknown attackers kept dragging her away from him.

"Don't you fucking touch her, you bastards! I'll fucking kill you! Katey!" he roared before he got hit in the back of the head with something that looked like a tire iron. Kate screamed before everything went black.


	6. Chapter 6

Seth woke up with one thought and one thought only in his head – Kate.

Panic coursed through him as he thought of the last thing he could remember, which was some goddamn asshole smashing something in the back of _his_ Katey's head. He shook with fury but found himself restrained, tied to a fucking chair of all fucking things. His eyes searched the room he was in. It looked like a swanky suite, much like the one he'd stupidly splurged on after he got hitched to Vanessa in Vegas.

The weird thing was, besides him, the place was empty. Not even a guard by the door.

Who the fuck were these people? Seth wracked his brain to come up with some sort of answer, some clue that could help him. Culebras weren't likely – the snake people were much too showy and arrogant to quietly take them like this. They would have made some grand speech, or sucked some blood or _something._

As it happened, he had a lot of time to think about the answer to his question. Because nobody came for him. The withdrawal hit him fast, hard. He lost track of time as he hallucinated – feverish and shaking, occasionally vomiting on the floor in front of him. It could have been hours, days, weeks later when he noticed – barely – that someone had come in and cleaned up the mess he'd made. Whoever it was had cleaned him up too, since his mouth no longer tasted of bile and he didn't stink like a homeless guy anymore. Which only made him wonder harder about who the hell had taken him and what they wanted.

While he waited, he had more than enough time to think about Kate – about what he'd done to her. Not that he'd taken her to Mexico, no, he knew that she'd needed him just as much as he'd needed her. But what the fuck had he been thinking, doing drugs in front of her like that, doing it at all? It wasn't just losing Richie that had been the problem. Kate had become a bigger problem – how much he'd come to want her, and the expectations she had on him that he knew he could never live up to. He'd denied it to himself of course. Hell, Uncle Eddie would have slapped him if he knew how much he craved her. But that was because he would have seen what Seth saw in the beginning: an innocent, little teenager. Not the woman she'd become. A real badass but with the soul of an angel. _His_ angel. He was beyond caring about anything else now except that she was just that – his. Any doubts had melted away right before they took her, and losing her only made him see all that much clearer.

Someone would come for him eventually. And when they did, he would make them tell him what they'd done to Kate – and then he'd kill them for laying their hands on her.

When the door finally opened, the first person to walk through it was the last one he'd ever expected.

"Kate?" he said, but the relief of seeing her alive and well only lasted for a second before she was pushed forward so violently that she fell to her knees, bracing her fall with her hands.

Seth struggled against his bindings so hard that he felt his skin break against the rope but he didn't feel the pain. His vision blurred at the edges by the rage that took hold of him when the man who'd pushed Kate grabbed her by the hair and yanked her to her feet, eliciting a cry of pain from her.

"Touch her again and you'll be begging for me to kill you before I'm done with you," Seth growled. Kate's attacker just snorted in response, and another man who looked just like the first one – big and mean with a black suit on – appeared behind Kate. He walked straight up to Seth and slammed his fist into his face. Seth's head was ringing from the blow and he coughed and spit a mouthful of blood on the floor in front of him.

"What the fuck do you want?" Seth yelled but he got no answer. His pulse raced even faster when both of the men took a hold of Kate and pushed her down to the floor and tied her up against one of the massive bedposts.

"Don't touch her." His voice was low but menacing, usually enough to make people listen. He winced when one of the men slapped Kate with an open hand, before he turned to Seth and spoke for the first time.

"That's just a taste of what this little bitch will get if you try to tell me what to do one more time," he said in a perfect American accent.

Seth bit his tongue, not willing to put that to the test by letting his mouth run. Instead he focused on Kate. All he wanted was for her to feel safe.

"It's gonna be okay, babygirl." He tried to keep his voice steady, but seeing her like that, it did something to him. God, he would fucking kill them all for touching her.

"Seth..." she mumbled. Suddenly, one of the men whispered something to the other one and they left, shutting the door behind them.

"Kate. Kate, look at me." His voice was calm, for her, all for her. Inside of him, there was turmoil, agony. He couldn't fucking stand to watch the blood that was trickling out of her nose. But he needed to keep his shit together, for her. "We're going to get out of here, you hear me?"

She nodded. "I was so scared, Seth, I didn't know what they'd done to you."

"They haven't done anything to me, not yet. I've just been sitting here on my ass, tied to this goddamn chair. I think... I know it sounds stupid, but I think they wanted me to sober up."

Her eyes lit up with hope at his last words, and it pained him again to think about what he'd put her through. "So you're..."

"Yeah, Princess. I'm clean as a whistle."

Her face almost looked happy before she furrowed her brow in confusion. "Why would a bunch of thugs want you to sober up?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe they need me for something. Listen, Kate. Did they... do anything to you?"

She shook her head. "They haven't touched me before now. But..." She fell silent and turned her head to the side, refusing to look at him.

"But what, Kate?" Still, no answer. "Baby, look at me. Tell me what they did." His voice was clipped, he tried very hard to keep his shit together.

"Nothing! They didn't do anything, I swear. It's just, the guy who hit me just now, he was the one who watched me most of the time. I guess... If you'd have seen someone look at me like that on the street, you would have punched his teeth out of his mouth."

Seth closed his eyes.

_Breathe. Breathe. In, out. In and fucking out._

He had to get out of the goddamn ropes. He started to wriggle his wrists more persistently, biting his tongue when the rope chafed harshly at his skin, but he ignored it.

After an hour or two, the bonds finally started to loosen. He almost yelled in triumph when one of his hands came free.

Kate's eyes widened but narrowed again when she saw his bleeding wrist. "Seth, you're hurt."

He scoffed at her. "It's nothing." He untied his other hand and then started to work on the rope around his ankles. He didn't make it far before he heard footsteps coming from outside the door. He looked at Kate and put his finger against his lips before he leaned back in the chair and put his hands behind him, making it look like he was still tied up. He managed to do it just before the door slammed open and the men from before walked in. The one who'd hit Kate walked up to Seth wearing an ugly sneer on his face. The other one stopped in front of Kate and started to unbutton his pants.

"Change of plan. Paul here," said the man in front of Seth and gestured toward his partner, "is going to show you the mild version of what will happen to your little _princess_ ," he spat the word,"if you don't do exactly what we tell you."

Seth stared. "You're dead," he said, his voice low, flat – dangerous.

The man in front of him laughed, but he choked on the sound when Seth reached out and pulled him toward him, slamming his head into his before he scrambled out of the rope by his feet. He'd gotten it loose enough before to make quick work of it now. The man had fallen to the floor and was reaching for his gun but Seth snatched it up and didn't waste any time putting a bullet into the man's knee, before stepping over him, ignoring his screams. He would deal with that one later. Right now, he only had eyes for his next prey.

The man standing next to Kate was reaching for his weapon as well, wide-eyed from seeing what had happened to his companion. But he froze when Seth pushed the gun against his forehead.

"Uh-uh, compadre. Bad move. But it doesn't matter. You thought you could touch her and live?"

The man called Paul glanced down at Kate. "Wrong move again," Seth snarled. "You don't even get to look at her." He pulled the trigger and Kate whimpered as she was covered in blood and the man fell dead to the floor.

Seth didn't waste a single second before he kneeled in front of Kate and started to untie her. "I told you it would be alright, babygirl. I'll never let anyone touch you, not as long as I fucking breathe," he mumbled and kissed the top of her head, ignoring the blood and making the most of his dexterous skills, quickly discarding the rope around her wrists.

Kate threw her arms around his neck. "God, I was so afraid of what they would do to you," she whispered.

His angel, not worrying about herself for one second, only for him. He didn't deserve her. He pulled back a little bit so he could see her face. He wiped some blood away from her lip with his thumb and then he kissed her. And he didn't care that he didn't deserve her when she kissed him back.

He didn't know how long he was lost in the bliss of that kiss before he felt Kate inhale sharply.

"Seth, he's gone! He must've crawled out of here," she said, pointing to the trail of blood leading out into the hallway.

Seth cursed and shot to his feet, pulling Kate up after him. They never made it out the door though, before someone walked through it.

Seth couldn't believe his eyes.

"Richard?"

His brother didn't seem surprised to see him, but when he spotted Kate behind him, his eyes narrowed. He walked straight past Seth and took Kate's hand, the one who wasn't holding Seth's.

"Thanks for the warm greeting, brother," Seth mumbled, irritated.

Richie ignored him. "Kate, are you alright? You've got blood all over you."

"It's not mine. Well, most of it, anyway. Richie, what are you doing here?" she asked, and Seth was glad because that was exactly what he wanted to know, too.

"I got a call, some fuckhead trying to extort money from me by taking you two. I tracked 'em, of course, fucking amateurs."

"Those 'amateurs'," Seth snarled and pointed at the door while he pulled Kate closer to him, yanking her out of Richie's hold,"almost raped Kate to get me to do something for them, so what the hell took you so long?"

Richie's face went blank. "They what?"

"It wasn't so bad, maybe they didn't..." Kate started, clearly trying to avoid a fight between the brothers.

"C'mon, Kate, you're not a little girl. You know what a man taking his pants off wants to do. And it ain't anything sweet, I'll tell you that. Now get out of my way, Richard. There were two of them and I have unfinished business with the second one. He put his filthy goddamn hands on Kate, hit her so hard she started to bleed, for Christ's sake. I'm gonna finish him, right after I put a bullet in his other knee."

"No. You get Kate out of here, I'll find the other guy, and anyone else that's involved," Richard said. Seth was about to protest before he felt Kate's hand clutch a little tighter to his side.

"Fine," he said. "But you make that son of a bitch pay, and then you come straight to us and explain this shit, you understand me?" He didn't wait for an answer.

* * *

 

It didn't take Richard more than a few minutes to follow the trail of blood leading from the suite Seth and Kate had been held in to the room the injured man had crawled into. Richard slipped in and shut the door quietly behind him.

The man on the floor was propped up against the back wall, clutching his heavily bleeding leg. His eyes widened in fear as they landed on Richard.

"Mr. Gecko! W-we did as you asked, but your brother was too fast, he got the gun and he fucking shot me!"

"I specifically told you not to touch the girl. Yet my brother tells me that you," Richard pointed at the man," hit her so hard that you drew blood."

"It had to look real, to motivate him, like you sai..."

"I _said_ , don't touch the girl."

The man gasped as Richard's eyes turned yellow and he didn't even have time to scream before he had fangs buried deep inside his neck.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been forever since I updated... Here's a new one and another coming up soon :)

Safe.

Seth was safe.

It was all Kate could think about when he dragged her after him through the hotel and out the front entrance. Everything else was a blur because she could only focus on his back and the warm squeezing of his hand.

They were inside somewhere now, but she barely registered where. Seth slammed the door behind him and then he had her in his arms quicker than she could blink.

He hugged her tightly against him and stroked her hair, tucking her head underneath his chin.

"You're safe now, baby," he murmured and Kate breathed him in, filling her nostrils with his scent, letting his warmth flood her before she looked up at him.

"What's going on? Why is Richie here?" she asked. Seth grunted in response.

"You don't actually believe that story he tried to spin, do you? That those men were kidnapping us for ransom? No one even knew we were here. We'll see what he has to say when he gets here." His hold around her tightened. "Don't trust anything he says, Kate. We don't know where he's been or what he's been doing all this time."

Kate didn't respond, because she didn't want to admit that he was right. She felt an incredibly strong connection with Richie, but she couldn't deny that she had no idea what he was up to.

All coherent thoughts went flying out of her head as she felt Seth's warm, soft lips against the skin of her neck. "If anything had happened to you..." he whispered, his breath against her making every hair on her body stand up.

"Nothing did... I swear," she reassured him, barely able to speak while feeling him so _tightly_ against her.

"I'd never have forgiven myself. I'm sorry for being such an ass, you deserve better. I used you and I almost got you killed."

She could hear the sincerity in his voice and stroked his back to soothe him. "You didn't, Seth. Those men did, and they got what they deserved."

"I should have seen it through, shouldn't have left the last one to Richard. I should have ripped him apart, piece by piece, for touching you."

She could feel him shaking with anger. "I'm sure Richie took care of him," she said, trying to convince him.

Seth leaned back and looked at her. "I'm sure he did. He looks at you adoringly enough, doesn't he?" His tone had switched from loving and apologetic to cold and angry in less than five seconds.

"Please, Seth, can we not talk about this right now?" she pleaded. "We're home free, for the time being anyway."

He let go of her and walked over to the window. "And what happens when he walks through that door?" he said and pointed toward it.

As if he'd been waiting to hear that comment, Richie knocked on the door. "Let me in, brother."

Kate flinched when she saw Seth's face contort into a snarl, but he unlocked the door calmly enough. Richard, with blood all over his suit, pushed past his brother without so much as a glance at him and stopped right in front of Kate.

Her heart pounded in her chest, both from seeing Richie and from anticipating the hell that could break loose any second. She saw the corner of Richie's mouth curl upward just a fraction, as if he could hear her pulse hammering. He probably could.

She could also see Seth when she looked over Richie's shoulder, still standing by the door, looking at her with a mix of anger and a challenge in his eyes.

_No._

She was not having any sort of conversation about any of their twisted relationships right now. There were more pressing matters to discuss.

"Your brother says he doesn't buy the kidnapping story, and I'm inclined to agree with him," she said and crossed her arms over her chest, trying not to let Richard's intense gaze throw her off balance completely.

Richard shrugged. "Fine. You might get a little pissed off now, but you'll thank me later."

"What did you do?" Seth's voice was dark, downright menacing.

"I got you all cleaned up."

"You... did you do this to us?" Kate asked, incredulous. "This whole thing was just a fucking charade?" Her voice almost broke, she was so angry. "Th-that man, he almost, I mean – he..."

"That was _not_ supposed to happen, and I'm so sorry about that, Katey, believe me."

"Why should I believe _anything_ you say?" she yelled.

There was a brief moment of silence before Richie spoke again.

"Because I love you, Kate."

She stared at Richard, her mouth hanging open in astonishment. He looked deadly serious. But Kate didn't have time to think about what to say before Seth grabbed his brother from behind and threw him against the table, breaking it, wood shattering everywhere. Kate shrieked, no matter how pissed she was at Richie, she didn't want him getting staked.

"You son of a bitch, I'll fucking kill you!" Seth screamed and grabbed Richard's collar before he punched him, sending his glasses flying.

"Seth, stop it!" Kate rushed forward and grabbed Seth's arm, trying to pull him off his brother. His arm flew back and Kate felt a sharp pain in her nose as Seth's elbow hit her. She held her hand against her face, blood trickling out between her fingers while she staggered backwards, dizzy from the blow. Seth stared at her in horror.

"Shit, Kate, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to... Shit." He seemed to have forgotten about Richard, who was straightening his tie as he picked himself up from the floor.

"Nice job, Seth," he snorted. Seth ignored him and helped Kate to sit down on the edge of the bed.

"I'm so sorry baby, fuck... Here, let me look."

Kate moved her hand and wiped the blood off on her jeans. She sucked in a hissing breath as Seth's fingers gently moved over her nose. "It doesn't seem to be broken, at least."

"Good for me," she said and spat out some blood on the floor. Seth looked painfully guilty.

"I'll run out and get some ice. I'll be right back," he said. He didn't say anything to Richard as he passed him but the dirty look he shot him spoke volumes. Richard seemed unfazed though, because as soon as Seth left, he kneeled in front of Kate.

"Maybe I shouldn't have made this all so dramatic..." he said.

"Oh, really, you think?" Kate snorted.

"But it got the job done, didn't it? He's clean now."

She couldn't deny that, even if she wanted to contradict everything he said. "Why did you do it? Why do you even care?"

Richard took her hand, and she swore at herself but she let him. "He's my brother. I owed him. And I meant what I said. I love you, Kate, and I know you love him. I didn't want you to suffer because he was too jacked up on drugs to see what he had right in front of him."

She tried to make sense of what he said but to no avail. "So what, you wanted him and me to be together? When you say you love me, you mean like – like a sister?" Kate squeezed the word out with disgust, considering that he'd already fucked her once, it wasn't a pleasant thought if he saw her like that.

Richie smiled. "No, not like a sister, Kate." The hand that wasn't holding hers ghosted over her thigh and he leaned forward until his breath was hot on her ear. "I love you like a woman."

Kate shivered, confusion, anger and desire coursing through her all at once.

"So, what – I mean, why are you trying to push me and Seth together?" she asked, her voice small and uncertain, almost trembling as his hand squeezed her inner thigh.

"He loves you. I love you. You love me back, _want_ me -" she gasped as he touched her between her legs, "and you want him too. I see nothing wrong with that. There's enough love and light in you for the both of us, I know there is."

Kate didn't know if she should be outraged or... Or something else. He was talking about sharing her, like she was some kind of toy. But she didn't _feel_ outraged. Probably because she knew, somehow, that he was being completely honest with her. She also knew that the Gecko brothers were a package deal. Seth had told her, during one of his weak and quite drunk moments, how it had all went to hell with Vanessa because she couldn't stand his brother. Not meaning to say that they were _that_ kind of package deal, that you'd have to sleep with both of them. Just a friendly relationship with the other would be enough. But of course, what she had with Seth, what she had with Richie, it went beyond friendship and they all knew it.

"Richard. It doesn't even matter. Even if you could convince me, you know there's no way in hell Seth would ever go for it."

"Give him time," he said. "I'll keep clear of you two for a little while, so things can calm down." He stood up and dropped her hand.

"Wait! There are so many things I want to know, Richard, that Seth needs to know, like where the hell have you been all this time? Why... Why did you _leave_?"

Richard stared at her, his expression unreadable. "Not now, Katey. I'll be back soon. Take care of Seth," he said and leaned down to kiss her, careful not to touch her nose.

"Wait!" she said again when he withdrew but before she had time to draw another breath, he was gone again.


	8. Chapter 8

Seth held her close to him for days, never once letting her out of his sight. Richie had left a bundle of cash behind him before he left, and Seth said they might as well use it and got them a room in a hotel that was like the fucking Ritz compared to their earlier accomodations.

Kate's nose felt better, Seth had been right when he'd told her it wasn't broken. He'd been careful not to touch her, always sitting on the other bed, watching her as she rested. At first she thought it was because he was angry over Richie, but every so often she caught him looking at her with a weird expression on his face. Maybe he felt guilty over hurting her, even if it had been an accident? Maybe he was afraid he'd hurt her again if he touched her.

On the third night in the hotel, she found out that that wasn't the answer.

Kate woke up in the middle of the night with the feeling of being watched. Sweat was clinging to her skin and even though she was wearing next to nothing, just a top and her underwear, it felt like too much clothing. She glanced toward Seth's bed and her breath caught in her throat when she saw him staring at her, a sliver of moonlight shining in through the window illuminating him. He had nothing but his underwear on. She swallowed hard as she saw how intense his eyes looked and a wave of desire swept through her as her eyes wandered over his body as she suddenly remembered his fingers touching her between her legs that night at the club. She bit her lip and Seth made a pained noise and buried his face in his hands.

She pushed away the covers without a sound and got out of bed, quickly and quietly crossing the small distance to Seth's bed. She sat down beside him and tried to put her hand on his shoulder, but he recoiled from her touch as if she'd burned him.

"Don't," he whispered.

"Why?"

"I've been trying so fucking hard. Why won't you leave my head, Kate? Why the hell won't you get out?"

She sat still and said nothing. She wasn't sure if she felt hurt or flattered, didn't know what he was getting at.

He looked at her and all she wanted to do was to take away the pain she could see in his face.

"This is fucked up. You're too young. I kidnapped you, for Christ's sake, Kate, what are we still doing together? Your family is long gone, I have no fucking use for you. Why haven't I sent you packing? Why did it sting like such a motherfucker when Richard said he loved you, huh?" He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. "Maybe it's because I know you love him back. You always looked at him like he was something special. Even back at the Twister. I walked in on you, didn't I? I..."

She muffled the rest of what he was about to say by kissing him. His lips, so sweet and full against hers, responded like they could do nothing else but to kiss her back. She was sticky with sweat still, and not just from the heat. He groaned and mumbled 'fuck' into her mouth before apparently giving in completely and pushed her back onto the bed, climbing over her and kissing her again, even harder than before.

She thought she might actually die when she felt him press against her, his cock already hard for her – she could feel him through his underwear against her bare leg and if she wasn't already going to hell, she certainly was now because it made her squirm and writhe underneath him like someone her daddy would probably call a shameful sinner. She didn't care about that, though, it felt so _good_.

And she couldn't think of it as being sinful when Seth pulled his mouth off her lips and looked her in the eyes, his own filled with reverence, and mumbled something about how she must have been an angel sent for him.

He kissed her again and her pulse raced and her breathing came in short strokes as he kissed his way down her jaw, down to her neck where he licked and nipped at her skin.

"God, I can't fucking stop myself, Kate, tell me to stop," he groaned when his hand cupped her breast through her top.

"Never," she breathed and pulled him up to her again, letting her tongue slip in between his lips. She shivered with pleasure when she felt the vibrations of his moan in her mouth and she snaked her hand down and stroked his cock through the fabric of his underwear.

He growled at her like an animal and she gasped, shocked and aroused beyond belief when he grabbed her top with both hands and ripped it open, all the way from top to bottom, leaving her exposed to him. He lowered himself to her breast and licked her tight nipple, and she whined and moaned when his hot breath and wet tongue hit her.

Seth freed himself from his underwear while he used his tongue on her, and then he kissed her down over her stomach. She protested when his attention left her breasts but had to clamp her hand over her mouth when he spread her legs and buried his head between them, kissing and licking her pussy on top of the white fabric still covering it.

"Please, Seth," she whispered, breathless and clutching his arms.

"Please, what?" he teased and slipped his finger inside her underwear.

"Oh, God! Please, just fuck me! I want to feel you inside me, please..."

Seth looked up at her, mouth wet and eyes dark, and then faster than she could react, he had her stripped of the last piece of fabric covering her and had her flipped onto her stomach. She pushed her ass up to meet his cock, and he wasn't wasting any time positioning himself. She could feel the tip of him against her opening and he leaned down and kissed her neck before burying himself in her cunt with one, single, hard thrust.

 _Shit, he's so big_ , Kate thought before her eyes rolled into the back of her head when he pulled out almost all the way before moving into her again – hard and so fucking delicious.

"Fuck, you're so tight, princess," Seth panted and Kate couldn't believe how good it felt, having him inside of her, filling her up, fucking her. She moaned loudly when he yanked her ass up into the air and snaked his arm around her and started working his fingers against her clit while he kept on fucking her.

It wasn't long before she started shaking, his fingers working on her furiously while he picked up the pace slamming himself in and out of her.

"That's it baby, I want you to cum for me, come on baby..." he murmured against her ear and his voice drove her straight to the brink and plummeting over it.

"Ahh, _Seth_!" she whimpered.

"Shit, princess, I can't hold myself back, you are so goddamn hot," he growled and pushed himself in and out of her so hard she thought the bed was going to break. "Here it comes, oh God... Can I cum on your ass, sweetie?"

Kate nodded eagerly and she almost moaned when she felt the hot spurts land on her accompanied by his hotter-than-hell-groans and hisses.

She remained lying on her stomach and he collapsed beside her on his back, out of breath. He pulled her close, nestling her head underneath his chin and draping his arm around her.

"Oh, baby, what are you doing to me?" he murmured.

"I love you, Seth," she whispered.

"I believe you, angel. But you love Richard too, don't you?"


	9. Chapter 9

"Jesus, Seth, I just told you I loved you, after you fucked me to the high heavens. Can't you enjoy the moment instead of bringing up your brother?"

Kate wiggled herself out of Seth's arms and got out of bed.

"Babe, don't be like that... Where you going?"

"No, _you_ don't be like that! And I'm going to wash your cum off my ass, you idiot," she said and slammed the bathroom door shut behind her.

_Whoa, sassy tonight, huh?_

But she had a point. He'd ruined a perfectly good moment. When he heard the shower turn off five minutes later, he got out of the bed and waited for her outside the door, his arms raised and resting on either side of the frame.

He grinned when she yelped in surprise after opening the door and finding him there.

"You're an ass," she muttered. He snickered and pulled her close to him. She didn't exactly put up a fight.

"What will it take for you to forgive me, princess?" he asked and stroked his hand along her arm, still a little wet from the shower, before he tugged at the towel she had wrapped around herself and let it fall to the floor. He kissed her before she could answer him, letting his tongue swipe over her small, delicate, hot lips before he demanded entrance into her mouth. She parted her lips for him so willingly and he pressed her against him, his hands on her perfect ass.

She moaned when she felt him hardening against her naked body. "Again?" she murmured, breathless from the kiss.

"I could do this all night long, baby girl. You're too fucking hot to keep my hands off of," he said and smiled when he saw her lips twitch up at his compliment. He lifted her up as if she weighed nothing and sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling her into his lap, making her straddle him. In a matter of seconds she was grinding against him, and he grunted when she made contact with his painfully hard cock. He could feel how wet she was against him and he licked his way down her neck while positioning himself just right. He bit into her neck lightly as he took a steady grip around her hips and made her impale herself on his cock, making her moan uncontrollably. His vision blackened with pleasure and he fell down onto the bed, groaning as she started to ride him, carefully at first, but only for a minute or so before she became a fucking wildcat. He forced his eyes open, drinking in the sight of her working herself on top of him. He comitted every detail to memory – how her eyes were so deliciously glazed over with lust, how her beautiful breasts bounced up and down as she moved, how a few drops of perspiration started to glide down between them and down over her stomach. He reveled in the feeling of her hands gripping his arms like she had no control over it.

She moaned his name over and over and it was the sweetest goddamned sound he'd ever heard in his life.

They didn't leave the bed for days after that. Seth ordered them room service, figuring he might as well take advantage of the money his brother had oh-so generously left them. He could barely keep his eyes off Kate for more than a minute at a time. It was a haze of sex, kissing, laughing, touching. He'd never been so fucking happy in his life. So of course, he expected it all to end at any moment. Life did not smile at men like Seth Gecko.

After three or four days of that bliss that he knew could never last, he woke up in the middle of the night, feeling watched. His eyes immediately searched for Kate, and he sighed in relief when he saw her sleeping soundly right next to him. He pulled her up against the crook of his neck and kissed the top of her head, careful not to wake her.

"She looks like an angel when she sleeps, doesn't she?"

Seth almost jumped out of his skin and his free hand automatically reached for the gun under his pillow. When he caught sight of his brother sitting in a chair in front of the bed, he paused for a fraction of a second, but still pulled his gun out. It was pointless, he knew, Richard being a culebra and all, but it just _felt_ good to point it at him.

"The fuck are you doing here, Richard?" he hissed, trying to keep his voice down.

"I'm here for our girl, you know that."

"She's not 'ours', and you sure as shit ain't taking her," Seth snapped.

"Don't you want her to be happy, brother?" Richard asked, his expression calm, neutral. It just pissed Seth off even more.

"She's sure been happy these past few days. I've made her scream my name more times than she's even looked at you," Seth said, eager to wipe that smug look off Richie's face.

"Good for you, Seth. But don't forget I had her first."

Seth untangled himself from Kate's sleeping form and got out of the bed, a sheet wrapped around his waist. "You watch what you say, Richard. What the hell do you want from me, from her?" He jabbed his finger in Kate's direction. "I won't let you do any of your weird shit to her, she's mine, you understand?"

Richard got up and stood right in front of his brother. "No, Seth, it's you who don't understand. We're meant to be together."

"Bullshit," Seth hissed.

"You still don't see it? You, her, me. We're _all_ meant to be together."

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Can't you hear how sick you sound?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Seth, it's not like I wanna bend _you_ over." He ignored Seth's grimace of disgust. "This is about Katey. She loves us both and you know it. And I love her, and Jesus Seth, I'm not blind. You love her more than you've ever loved anything in your miserable life, don't you deny it."

"All the more reason to make me wanna keep her safe from you."

"Come on, brother. What are the odds of us finding a girl who accepts us for who we are, who wants us, who _loves_ us both? We wouldn't ever have to let a woman get between us again, like with Vanessa, or Santanico. Not only that, but you and me, we both love her back. We could give her everything she wants."

"We don't have shit to give her, Richard. Christ, you keep throwing big words around, but neither you nor me have a goddamed clue about what it actually means. I just know that dragging her deeper into our messed up lives, fucking – I don't know, _sharing_ her somehow, that ain't love. Because loving someone means doing what's good for them. And you and me, we're sure as hell not good."

"That might be true," said a soft voice from behind him.

Seth's head snapped toward the bed, and his heart skipped a beat as he caught sight of Kate, his beautiful Kate, sitting up in the middle of it, looking sleepy but focused.

"Maybe you're both bad people. But I don't care about that. I don't give a shit about anything, or anyone, else. All I want is you."


	10. Chapter 10

"Kate..." Seth murmured as she walked toward him slowly, like she was afraid that any sudden movement would scare him. He almost scoffed at the irony of the scene. A little girl barely out of her teens, walking toward him and his brother – two of the most wanted criminals out there, and _she_ was the one afraid to scare _him_ off. Richard stood still as a statue, just watching Kate from behind those glasses that he did not even need anymore.

"I mean it, Seth," Kate said as she stopped right in front of the both of them. "Why are you so worried about how things 'should' be? About what the world thinks? Tell me, what has the world ever given to you?"

He did not respond, could not. The world had never given him shit, except for the angel standing right in front of him. But no, the world had not given her to him – _she_ had.

"What if you did let me go, huh? You leave me and you never see me again."

Just those last words were almost enough to send Seth to his knees. Never seeing her beautiful face again, never feeling her skin underneath his fingertips, never having her lips touch his again while she murmured that she loved him – it was unthinkable.

The expression on his face must have mirrored the pain he felt inside, because Kate closed the distance between them and her eyes were so full of love it almost hurt – he did not deserve it. Warmth flooded through him as she reached up to his face and let her hand caress his cheek, so softly. And he knew, he _knew_ that he would kill anything and anyone to keep that feeling, _do_ anything for her, anything to keep her happy and safe. The only other person he had ever cared about that much stood right beside him – his brother.

Richard looked at him while he reached for Kate's free hand. She let him entangle his fingers with hers, but did not drop her hand from Seth's cheek.

"You know I will do anything to keep her safe, brother," Richard said. He spoke in a softer voice than normal, almost quiet. "You would never have to worry about her. We would keep her safe, and happy, you and me, together."

"As if anyone would ever dare touch the Gecko brothers' girl anyway," Kate said with a hesitant smile, looking from Richie to Seth, holding on to both of them, her face filled with caution, probably measuring how he reacted to her words. Surprising even himself, Seth thought it sounded... right, somehow. She was his – no, theirs. He knew his brother, and he heard the truth in his words. They would keep her safe – and that was all that really mattered.

Richard squeezed his shoulder and smiled. "As far as I'm concerned, there is only one thing we need to be. And only one way to live."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted to just wrap this little story up :) Might continue in one way or another in a one-shot or something, or write a new story now that S3 is wrapped up. Hope you enjoyed :)


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